Job interview: Self introduction

🇮🇹 This is the classic opening question in an Italian interview. Have a short answer ready covering your age, where you're from, where you live and what you do now.

💬 Italians say they "have" their years, using ho "I have", never sono. Same pattern: ho venticinque anni "I'm twenty-five".

💬 Nationalities take a small letter and change ending to match you: a woman says sono americana.

💬 Use a for cities and in for countries: vivo a Milano, but vivo in Italia "I live in Italy".

💬 Italian uses the plain present tense with da for something that started in the past and is still going on. Same pattern: studio italiano da sei mesi "I've been studying Italian for six months".

💬 fa is the polite "you do" that goes with Lei. With a friend you'd ask che lavoro fai?

💬 lavoro means both "I work" and "job", so che lavoro fa? and lavoro in un ufficio share the same word.

💬 mi occupo di "I take care of / I deal with" is a handy way to describe your role in any field. Same pattern: mi occupo di vendite "I handle sales".

💬 vuole is the polite "you want". Like the other polite forms, it's the same as "he/she wants".

🇮🇹 Expect this question in almost every interview. Italian interviewers like a concrete reason tied to the company, not just general enthusiasm.

💬 mi piace literally means "it pleases me", so the thing you like comes after it. For more than one thing it becomes mi piacciono.

🇮🇹 vostra "your" speaks to the company as a group, which is natural here. To sound a touch softer, use vorrei imparare "I'd like to learn" instead of voglio.

💬 la shrinks to l' before a vowel and joins the next word: l'azienda, l'ufficio "the office".

💬 La here is the polite "you", the object form of Lei. Italians often use the present tense for the near future, so contattiamo "we contact" means "we'll contact".

💬 entro means "by" or "within" a deadline. Same pattern: entro domani "by tomorrow".

🇮🇹 This is the polite goodbye to use with an interviewer. Ciao would be far too casual here.

💬 Grazie a Lei means "thank YOU", sending the thanks back politely. Between friends it's grazie a te.